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Monday, July 03, 2006
Discussions on North expressway load limit set
A MULTI-sectoral dialogue with the Benguet traders and truckers is scheduled on July 13-14 in Baguio regarding their complaint on the load limit being imposed along North Luzon Expressway (Nlex).
Marlene Ochoa, vice president for corporate communication of the Manila North Tollways Corporation (MNTC), said that top transport officials of the road board and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are expected to join the much-awaited dialogue.
Road board private sector director Albert Suansing and DPWH Regional Director Mariano Alquiza will also attend principally to orient dialogue participants on the mandate and provisions of Republic Act (RA) 8794 or the Anti-Overloading Law.
Ochoa said a team from the MNTC and the Tollways Management Corporation (TMC) will also be around to demonstrate how weighing scales that are used in the Nlex work, for the understanding of local truckers. Part of the team's demonstration work is how to load properly.
The MNTC-TMC team will be visiting the city in response to the urgent call of Benguet traders and truckers for them to sit down and thresh out issues regarding the strict implementation of the Anti-Overloading Law by Nlex as well as the difference in the weighing scales it used to those by the DPWH and the Land Transportation Office (LTO).
Earlier, Benguet truckers complained that the weighing scales here are different from those used by the Nlex management, thus they are not allowed to load as much agricultural products to be delivered in Metro Manila unlike before.
They also called on the Nlex management to increase the load limit of their trucks so that they could cope with the losses incurred following the drastic reduction on load limit allowed.
The League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) in Benguet, meanwhile, passed a resolution requesting President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to exempt local vegetable truckers from the load limit being imposed by Nlex. But the request failed to get a positive reaction from the President due to safety reasons.
Under the law, the load limit is 13.5 tons per axle.
Government transport officials and MNTC consider the Anti-Overloading Law as one of the most liberal load limits in the global village.
Based on practices, various countries strictly follow the load per axle, particularly the US - 9.10 tons; Australia - six to 10 tons; Austria - 11.50 tons; Denmark - 10 tons; Germany - 11.5 tons; Greece - 11.5 tons; Hungary - 11 tons; India - 9.30 tons; Italy 12 tons; Nepal - 9.30 tons; Pakistan - 12 tons; China - 10 tons; Japan - 10 tons; and Thailand -- nine to 10 tons, among others. (DS)
(July 3, 2006 issue)
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